Breakdown: Coronavirus Task Force’s Briefing March 23, 2020

President Donald Trump and members of his Coronavirus Task Force held a press briefing on the coronavirus at the White House Monday evening.

President Trump opened the coronavirus task force briefing saying it is very important to protect the Asian community” and “the virus is not their fault in any way, shape, or form.”

Trump said he hopes the United States will soon be “open for business” and a decision on “opening our country” could come at the end of 15-day period.

Trump said the Federal Emergency Management Agency is distributing 8 million N95 masks and 13 million surgical masks to the hotspots states. 73 pallets of personal protective equipment will be shipped to New York, and 36 pallets will be sent to Washington state.

Attorney General William Barr said President Trump has signed Executive Order 4512, which “prohibit the hoarding of vital medical equipment and supplies, such as hand sanitizers, face masks, and personal protective equipment.” The Health and Human Services Department will designate certain items as “scarce” and it will be a crime to stockpile those items.

Vice President Mike Pence said that 313,000 coronavirus tests having been completed with more than 41,000 tests having come back positive. He added all state and hospital labs are now “required, by law, to report the results of coronavirus tests to the CDC.”

The Food and Drug Administration has approved self-collected sample for Coronavirus testing. Pence said he and President Trump had asked the FDA to pursue “less invasive methods of testing” after they both endured their own tests, which require deep nasal swabs.

Trump announced that he postponed the REAL ID deadline and the new deadline would be announced “in a very short moment.” The deadline for compliance with the federal REAL ID program to make all state-issued identification cards more secure with uniform national standards was October 2020.

Trump said the federal government has obtained large quantities of Hydroxychloroquine which will be distributed in New York for clinical trials beginning early Tuesday.

Trump told reporters that First lady Melania Trump was tested for the Coronavirus and the test was negative for coronavirus and is doing fine.